Implantable gastric devices can occupy a volume within a patient's stomach to decrease the available room for food. This creates a feeling of satiety that can control the patient's appetite and cause weight loss. Intragastric balloons, for example, can be filled with a biocompatible fluid (e.g., saline solution) and left within the stomach for an extended period of time to treat obesity and/or other weight related conditions. Implanting such an intragastric balloon generally includes inserting the deflated balloon through the patient's mouth or nose with a filler tube or catheter, and inflating the balloon in situ. The intragastric balloon can eventually be removed by deflating the balloon, grasping it with an extraction tool, and removing the intragastric balloon via the esophagus and mouth.
A challenge associated with the inflation of intragastric balloons is that conventional inflation tools can inadvertently disconnect from the intragastric balloons during insertion and/or inflation. However, if it is difficult to disconnect the intragastric balloon from the inflation tools, the extra force (e.g., tugging) necessary for disengagement can agitate or impose trauma on the stomach wall. Thus, there is a need to improve the inflation of intragastric devices.